Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Recession Hiking on the Appalachian Trail
by Michael Yessis | 06.29.09 | 10:57 AM ET
NPR’s Thomas Pierce set out to find out whether the recession has influenced who’s hiking the Appalachian Trail this season, and fell in with “Pusher” and “The Duder.” Maybe Pierce will return soon and find out if there’s also a Sanford effect out there.
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Yahoo! BuzzWhat We Loved This Week: Michael Jackson, Soccer in South Africa and a Taco Smackdown
by World Hum | 06.26.09 | 4:34 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Pam Mandel
I loved (re-) watching Michael Jackson’s Cecil B. DeMille meets Bollywood meets John Hughes video for Black or White. The exotic dancers, the magic morphing from one ethnic group to another, the ridiculous introduction (is that Macaulay Culkin?!) and the ’round-the-world tour with an unmistakable beat ... Oh, Michael, you were a really weird character, but I loved your music. Rest in peace, Michael, rest in peace.
Michael Jackson’s Global Impact
by Alicia Imbody | 06.26.09 | 4:02 PM ET
Love him or leave him, Michael Jackson’s international impact—from pioneering popular music and breaking down the race barrier in the entertainment world, to influencing foreign policy and perplexing people across the globe—cannot be denied.
As the world reacts to his death, we take a look at a sampling of global responses and remember some of his lasting impressions.
Rhode Island Contemplates a Name Change
by Eva Holland | 06.26.09 | 3:29 PM ET
Little-known fact: Rhode Island’s full, official name is “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” And, thanks to the slavery connotations of that latter section, the state is taking steps towards a potential name change—to, you guessed it, plain old “Rhode Island.”
All things considered, if the change goes through I’m guessing the world will find it easier to adapt to than, say, the Bombay-Mumbai shift.
MIT and Harvard Academics Agree: ‘Travel Broadens the Mind’
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.09 | 12:34 PM ET
The 67-page paper written by Mark Mortensen of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Tsedal Beyene of Harvard Business School actually focuses on business travel, but its message seems relevant—and, admittedly, is kind of obvious—to any traveler, really. The Economist’s Gulliver blogger distills the paper’s conclusion: “[B]y heading abroad, you gain valuable insights not only into those cultures you’re visiting, but also into your own domestic operations.”
Here’s a pdf of the paper, which is titled “Firsthand Experience and The Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration.”
Irresistible, no?
In Celebration of the Daiquiri
by Eva Holland | 06.26.09 | 11:36 AM ET
It’s been 100 years since the daiquiri—now practically the official drink of the warm-weather getaway—first made its way from Cuba to the United States. The Daily Beast takes a look back at its origins and many more modern variations, including the El Floridita daiquiri, reportedly Hemingway’s favorite.
Mapped: How Hollywood Sees the United States
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.09 | 10:33 AM ET
What, you’ve never been to Alabanjorape?
Flying as an Unaccompanied Minor: ‘It was Great!’
by Eva Holland | 06.26.09 | 9:26 AM ET
What a relief, after last week’s two incidents of unaccompanied minors being put on the wrong flights (and the resulting catastrophizing about the “risky proposition” of letting kids fly alone at all), to read something positive about the UM program.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson
by Jim Benning | 06.25.09 | 8:20 PM ET
He was a truly global pop star. Exhibit A: Our slideshow of Michael Jackson around the world.
Exhibit B: Jeffrey Tayler’s brand new World Hum essay, Michael and Me: Strangers in Moscow.
Exhibit C:
R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett
by Eva Holland | 06.25.09 | 4:05 PM ET
REUTERS/Staff The actress has died at 62 after a three-year battle with cancer. Among many other roles, she starred in the cross-country road trip race movie, The Cannonball Run.
Which Tourist Sites are Better Than the Big Names?
by Eva Holland | 06.25.09 | 3:16 PM ET
There’s an interesting “Better Than…?” series going on over at This Just In. In each installment, a regional guidebook author picks a busy, major attraction and offers a comparable (or arguably, even better) alternative—and, happily, manages to do so without putting down anyone who might prefer to see the big-ticket sites as tourist sheep. The targets so far: the Duomo in Florence, Buckingham Palace and Stonehenge.
Got any “Better Than…?” suggestions of your own?
Photo We Love: Soaring With Cranes
by World Hum | 06.25.09 | 2:32 PM ET
REUTERS/Johannes Eisele French microlight pilot Christian Moullec flies with a flock of cranes during an air show in Langenselbold, 25 miles east of Frankfurt.
R.I.P. Ali Akbar Khan, Indian Musician
by Jim Benning | 06.25.09 | 1:31 PM ET
REUTERS/Adam Tanner The Bengali-born musician, who died last week at the age of 87, was regarded by many as a genius who helped popularize Indian classical music around the globe. He played the 25-string sarod.
When he arrived in the U.S. half a century ago, many he encountered were confounded by his origins.
He told Asia Week:
“When I came in ’55, because I was in Indian dress, people on the street in New York came out of the bars and shops and followed us. They asked me, ‘Who are you? Where are you from?’ When I said, ‘India,’ some of them didn’t even know where it was. Or others who knew I was a musician asked funny questions like, ‘How can you play music in India with all the tigers and snakes and monkeys you have to fight off?’”
Here he performs via YouTube:
Google Unveils City Tours, Comes One Step Closer to World Domination
by Eva Holland | 06.25.09 | 12:40 PM ET
Look out, guidebook publishers—Google is coming for you. The all-new Google City Tours provides users with suggested urban itineraries and then allows for customization from there. The Guardian’s Benji Lanyado takes it for a test drive.
The White House Luau: President Obama ‘Wants his Hawaii Grinds’
by Michael Yessis | 06.25.09 | 11:27 AM ET
The first-ever White House Hawaiian-style luau is scheduled to take place tonight, with President Obama hosting a meal created and prepared by Alan Wong.
Good for Obama. He loves his home state of Hawaii, and Hawaii loves him back—though, as seen in this slideshow, sometimes it loves him in funny ways.
In any case, Obama will get some Hawaiian food—the chef’s shopping list includes 84 pounds of Hawaiian macadamia nuts, 130 pounds of salmon and 650 pounds of pork butt—cooked by the proprietor of one of his favorite restaurants. And Hawaii hopes it will get what it desperately needs: a boost for tourism.
